Kazakhstan increases exports by nearly 30%

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - Minister of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Timur Suleimenov spoke about an increase in Kazakhstan's exports, Kazinform correspondent reports.

"Exports have grown by 28.2% ($39.1 billion). This is due to the increase in deliveries of oil by 45.4%, agricultural products by 30.1%, oil gases by 30.2%, aluminum by 24%, and copper ores by 12.5%," the minister said at the Government session on Tuesday. Alongside this, as the minister mentioned, there is also an import growth. "Imports have increased by 10.8% ($20.8 billion). They increased mainly as a result of imported investment goods (machinery and equipment), reaching 20.4%. Besides, imports of ferrous metals and pharmaceuticals rose by 15.8% and 13.6%, respectively," Suleimenov said. According to him, there is a stable growth in the foreign trade turnover. "Given the favorable external situation in the global commodity markets, the foreign trade turnover remains in the trend of sustainable growth. For 8 months, the growth was 21.6% ($59.8 billion)," the minister underlined. In addition, he informed that as of 1st September 2018, the overall amount of loans has decreased by 0.1% year-over-year reaching KZT 13 trillion. "The decline is mostly due to business loans (a 2.1% decrease down to KZT 8 trillion). At the same time, consumer loans have increased by 10.7% (KZT 5 trillion)," the minister added.